An original 7-inch copy of The Beatles’ debut single, “Love Me Do,” has sold for almost $15,000 through the online collectors’ site, Discogs.com. Experts say it is now the most expensive 7-inch single ever sold.

The demo copy of The Beatles’ debut single for Parlophone, sold via Discogs, actually sold for $14,757 on 9 October. The record sold through Discogs was one of only 250 issued with Paul McCartney’s name misspelled in the writing credit as “McArtney”. Backed with ‘PS I Love You,’ the final single peaked at No.17 when it was first released in the UK, but topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in 1964.

The Beatles recorded ‘Love Me Do’ on three different occasions, with three different drummers, at EMI Studios at Abbey Road in London. The first “artist test” recording took place on 6 June 1962 and featured The Beatles’ original drummer, Pete Best. This version (previously thought to be lost) was later included on the album Anthology 1. The first official recording of the song then took place on 4 September 1962. In August, Best had been replaced with drummer Ringo Starr, and the group recorded the song in 15 takes at EMI Studios. This version appears on the Past Masters collection.

More info at Discogs.com